Bite hard for the perfect smile

For nurses at a hospital in Handan, in China's Hebei province, delivering service with a smile is helped by attending courses that teach them how to give a graceful grin.

At a training session yesterday, this involved an old technique of holding a chopstick between their teeth and biting down hard, while smiling.

This is believed to exercise the facial muscles needed to produce a perfect smile .

According to numerous reports, similar sessions have been held for police officers, flight attendants, tour guides and volunteers at sports events.

This is to help people working in the service industry appear friendlier, especially to tourists.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 09, 2017, with the headline Bite hard for the perfect smile. Subscribe